When it comes to handsets that look and feel premium in hand, OPPO’s designers are always on point and the Reno8 series is no exception, featuring a streamlined unibody design that integrates both the camera module and back cover for a smooth hand feel. The Reno8 Pro 5G is the thinnest Reno series smartphone measuring only 7.34mm in terms of its thickness and feels light in the hand at 183g, while being capable of drawing many stares, especially in the gorgeous Glazed Green colour that our review unit came in (a Glazed Black colour is also available).
It packs an immersive 6.7″ display (93.4% screen-to-body ratio) that packs in plenty of detail at a resolution of FHD (2412 × 1080; 394 PPI) and fantastic colours (Vivid mode at 100% DCI P3 colour gamut, gentle mode at 100% sRGB colour gamut). Moreover, navigating the OS (Andriod 12 in this case) and playing mobile games is exceptionally smooth thanks to the max refresh rate of 120 Hz. Last but not least in terms of display features, the Flexible AMOLED display (protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5) is also good to use in direct sunlight outdoors or under bright office lighting since it is notably bright at a normal brightness of 500 nits and peak brightness value of 950 nits.
It is not just the high refresh display that keeps things slick since the smartphone packs 8 GB worth of quick LPDDR5 RAM as well as 256 GB worth of snappy internal storage (UFS3.1), and MediaTek Dimensity 8100-MAX. The latter is an 8 core CPU (4 big cores + 4 little cores) with a maximum clock rate of 2.85 GHz that is paired with an Arm Mali-G610 MC6 GPU and MariSilicon X NPU for features like AI-based camera functionality.
Speaking of which, the camera on the back – Sony’s fantastic IMX766 sensor – consists of a 50MP (f/1.8; FOV: 86°; AF supported; closed-loop focus motor) as well as an ultra-wide angle camera plus macro camera. This combination delivers great picture quality in virtually all conditions, although the latter – the macro lens – has limited usage cases beyond for those who love capturing flowers and other subjects up close. You can also record 4K video up to a smooth 30 fps. On the front, there is a very capable 32MP selfie shooter (Sony IMX709, f/2.4, FOV 90°, AF, open-loop focus motor) that can also record FHD video at 30 fps.
Additional features of this smartphone include the In-display fingerprint sensor that works well and the dual 2250 mAh/17.50 Wh batteries that combine to get you through a full working day. Should a power user fail to reach that screen-on milestone, you can top these up fast thanks to the 80W SUPERVOOC charging capabilities that can deliver 50% battery on an 11-minute charge and up to 2 hours of mobile gaming time from a 5-minute charge.
All of this design prestige, camera capabilities, and spec value come to you at an equally pretty RRP, as the Reno8 Pro 5 G is locally available for a recommended retail price of R20 000, which is Samsung Galaxy S22 5G money. Those who aren’t caught up in the brand loyalty war, who opt to consider design, camera performance and spec value, can definitely shortlist and strongly consider the Reno8 Pro 5G.
